Title: Miss Maynard Meets the Chalet School
Author: chaletian
Period: Tyrol
Rating: PG
Characters: Miss Maynard, Madge Bettany, Jack Maynard, Joey Bettany, Juliet Carrick, Margia Stevens
Summary: During School At, Miss Maynard joins the staff.


The early summer sun shone down steadily as Miss Mary Maynard made her way down the narrow path which led from Briesau to Gaisalm. Brushing aside a particularly overbearing pine branch, she was suddenly startled into giving a quiet shriek as someone came up behind her. Spinning around, she recognised the culprit only too well.

"Jack Maynard! For shame!" she cried, unable to stop herself laughing at the same time. "If that's the way you plan to behave, I doubt any patient in his right mind will let you within a hundred yards!" Her brother grinned at her, not a whit abashed.

"Ah, but therein lies the joy of patients," he explained agreeably, tucking her hand into his arm and continuing along the path. "Quite often they're not in their right minds, so don't care a jot who sees to them. Anyway," he carried on, with a saintly expression that didn't fool his sister for an instant, "I'll have you know that I am famed for my bedside manner. The best for miles around so I am given to understand." Molly found herself speechless in the face of this remarkable conceit, and so fell silent, until the sight of the path's end prompted her to pull her hand from Jack's arm and, setting off swiftly, called back that irresistable challenge, "Race you to the end!" Jack followed suit, and the pair arrived at the hut at the bottom of the Gaisalm pastures breathless, flushed, and laughing merrily.

The other holiday makers who were enjoying the warm sun of early June in the Austrian Tyrol smiled indulgently at the two young creatures, who were in fact a charming sight. At twenty-two the pair were twins, the younger children of a British general and his pretty wife, Jack and Molly Maynard were charming, talented and well-bred individuals, much esteemed by their friends and family.

Jack Maynard, after several contented years at public school had eventually started his career as a doctor, having only that year graduated from Oxford with his MD. He was a carefree young chap, whose merry spirits hid a serious and dedicated approach to healing and his responsibilities as a doctor, something recognised by few of his usual companions.

One of his more perspicacious friends was his sister, who privately envied Jack his dedication. Equally endowed with brains and good sense, Molly's position as her parents' only daughter had led to a predictable life. A series of governesses had been engaged, and their work finished off by a year at Finishing School in Interlaken. She had made her come out at the age of eighteen, and had been persistently been growing more bored with every passing year. Jack's decision to take a walking tour before starting work as a House Officer at Guy's had been greeted with enthusiasm by his sister, who was anxious to spread her wings further than London and the New Forest, where the Maynards' home was.

These thoughts occupied Molly's mind now as she followed her brother along yet another winding, narrow path. She sighed, her attractive, clear-cut features taking on a rueful cast. Jack, never one to miss much, especially when it came to his twin, noticed at once.

"Look here, what's the matter with you, Molly? You nearly blew that tree over just now, and you've been acting differently for a while now."

"You wouldn't understand," replied Molly, not without some truth, it must be admitted. "It's different for you. You know what you're going to do, and...well, it's up to you to make it happen. I just have to wait around for some chap to ask to marry me." At Jack's perplexed expression, she suddenly broke out. "I want to do something...anything! I just want to make a change to my life and know that it was me, it wasn't someone else deciding. Oh, I knew you wouldn't understand," she finished, disconsolately.

"No. No...I think I do understand. But we'd better get back - it's starting to get dark, and we don't want to get caught out here." As dusk fell, the young Maynards made their way back to the Kron Prinz Karl, where they had reservations for the week. They went down to dinner as had become their habit, and Jack Maynard was happily deciding between the fish or a kind of meat pie, when his sister leapt from her seat in a most unladylike fashion and cried,

"Madge Bettany!"

Madge Bettany, erstwhile founder of the Chalet School had spent a most pleasant Saturday in Innsbruck, ordering extra books for her school which seemed to be growing in leaps and bounds. Discovering, on her arrival in Buchau, that she had just missed the last steamer, Madge had decided to spend the night at the Kron Prinz Karl, and was thus about to take her place in the Speisaal, when she was hailed by a voice she had not heard in several years.

"Madge Bettany!"

Turning towards the voice, Madge let out a gasp of surprise.

"Molly Maynard! Is that you?" She grasped the hands of the young woman who had made her way over to Madge's table.

"I and no other, my dear! What a surprise to see you here - are you holidaying as well?" Madge shook her head decisively.

"Most definitely not. I run a school just across the lake from here. I've been on official business, actually, that's why I'm here," she explained, as Molly led her to the table where Jack had risen in curiosity.

"A school? Oh, I've heard of it - some English people here were saying that they planned to send their daughter. And you've started it? But why?" A gentle cough on her right recalled Molly to where she was. "Oh, Madge, I'm sorry. This is Jack - Dr Maynard, my brother. You remember me mentioning him? Anyway, Jack, this is Madge Bettany. We met in London simply ages ago, but then rather lost touch. I say, Madge, you will join us for dinner, won't you?" At Madge's assent, the three sat down, and the two ladies were presently chatting away about their time in London. The evening lengthened, and eventually Madge was forced to leave them.

"I'll have to be up awfully early in the morning if I want to be back at the school for before morning prayers, and I don't fancy being half asleep all day," she said with a laugh. Bidding the twins farewell she went to her room, leaving Jack and Molly to their own devices.

"She seems a very nice woman," observed Jack, as he offered his sister a cigarette.

"Oh she is," agreed Molly emphatically. "Terribly sweet, but very determined on the inside. I was very fond of her whilst we were in London."

"Must have been a bit of a blow, having to come out here, and start a school, of all things."

"I don't think she thinks like that a bit! I rather envy her, actually." Jack looked up sharply, but forbore to say more. He was becoming increasingly aware that Molly was not happy with her lot, and he felt rather unsure about what to do with that information. He had grown up in a family where women were expected to mother their children and, when not actively engaged in that, to look decorative as far as possible. To discover that Molly did not see that as being her aim in life was somewhat disconcerting.

*****
The next afternoon, Molly received a message from Madge, inviting her to afternoon tea the following day. She accepted eagerly, and Monday saw her ensconced in Madge's pretty study, drinking tea and eating some delicious cream affairs that Frau Pfeiffen had magically produced in the kitchens. After the usual pleasantries, Molly brought up Madge's enterprise.

"I saw some of your girls at Mass yesterday," she commented, carefully selecting another of Frau Pfeiffen's confections. "I must say, they looked awfully jolly. Are they?" Madge laughed.

"To the extent that any lot of school girls are, I suppose! The elder girls, and most of the continental girls are very good - though I suspect that might not be case when they've all settled in properly! I rather think that there are some young creatures that bear watching. Not least of whom my own sister," she added fervently, with a fleeting thought to the chaos Joey had caused that very morning on tipping over her desk and spilling ink all over herself, not to mention those nearest to her. "But they are on the whole well-meaning girls, and I think we shall do well."

"What do you do about teaching?" asked Molly curiously. "Have you English mistresses?" Madge shook her head, a look of concern clouding her eyes.

"No, and I have to look into it. At present there is just Elise - Mlle Le Pattre, you know - and I. But we're growing at such a rate I shall have to find someone to take the Maths and Science subjects. I can do English subjects all right, but Maths was never really my forte, and neither is it Elise's." At this, Molly suddenly looked thoughtful, though she said nothing except for a general enquiry about the girls' education.

The evening drew on, until Molly reluctantly got to her feet, and announced her intention to depart.

"It's getting quite late, and I'm afraid Jack will worry if I'm not back for dinner," she explained, as Madge called for Marie to get the coat of die Fraulein.

"Of course you must go," said Madge. "Oh, but first, you must see my sister. I've told you so much about her." Molly was entirely agreeably to this plan, and the ever helpful Marie was sent off to find young Miss Joey. A few minutes later there came the sound of running feet, and Joey herself burst into the room, not looking in any way sobered by the unfortunate incident earlier that day. Madge raised her eyebrows at this unladylike entrance, but Joey happily did not notice, and instead gazed inquisitively at her sister's visitor.

"Joey, this is Miss Maynard. Do you remember me telling you about her when we met in London?"

"Oh, rather!" replied Joey, as she shook Molly's hand. "How do you do, Miss Maynard? Are you holidaying here?" On hearing that Miss Maynard was indeed doing just that, Joey launched into a catalogue of all things that simply had to be seen, until Madge stopped her with a laugh.

"Enough, Joey, darling! If Miss Maynard and her brother did all that whilst they were here they'd be fit for nothing when they returned home!" Molly giggled at the thought of Jack being exhausted by non-stop sightseeing, then gave a gasp of horror at the sight of her watch.

"Heavens! It's nearly half past seven! I really must go, or I'll be frightfully late. I say, do come for tea with me at the hotel, won't you, Madge? There's...well, there's something I'd like to talk to you about," she finished, rather hurriedly.

"Of course I will," agreed Madge calmly, though she was wildly curious as to what Molly Maynard could possibly want to discuss with her. "I can come tomorrow, if you like. At about sixteen - I mean, four o'clock," she added, seeing the confusion on Molly's face.

"All right," said Molly, and then she departed, after bidding farewell her hostess's younger sister. Half an hour later she was seated once again in the Kron Prinz Karl's Speisesaal, with her brother enthusiastically extolling the virtues of the air, elevation, and general circumstances of the Tiern See and its surrounding areas, and the possible benefits to patients suffering from diseases such as the dreaded White Man's Plague, tuberculosis.

"In fact, I ran into a chap who was thinking of setting up a Sanatorium up at the Sonnalpe - that's the shelf about five hundred feet above... Molly, are you listening?" Molly looked at him bemused for a moment, then flushed.

"No, I'm sorry Jack. I was thinking of something else. Actually, I wanted to talk to you about it. You see, I've had an idea."

Jack looked at his sister suspiciously. The last time she had declared "having an idea" he had got talked into playing a prank on an elderly uncle that had almost - though not quite - offended his sense of dignity. "What sort of idea?" he asked.

Molly bit her lip and stared at her fork. "You're not going to like it," she said, almost defiantly. "I was talking to Madge Bettany about the school, and, well, she needs a mistress to teach some Maths, and Science and so forth." Jack looked at her blankly.

"And? I don't see how that can lead to any grand plan on your part - unless you've got someone in mind. Or..." A sharp glance at his sister's bent head confirmed Jack's worst suspicions. "Or unless you've decided to do it yourself. Molly, have you lost your senses? You don't know the first thing about teaching!"

At the expression in Jack's voice, Molly saw red. Madge's offhand statement about needing a new mistress had seemed a heaven sent opportunity for her. The Maynards may not have believed in their women-folk attending school, but they definitely believed in the value of a good education, and young Molly had been blessed with a selection of extremely clever women, who moreover were natural teachers. Though perfectly comfortable with the arts side of things, Molly, like her twin brother, was more drawn to the scientific, and more particularly to the study of Mathematics. Extra study with her last governess, a Miss Connelly, had meant that Molly had reached a level that went far beyond the usual school level of boys, let alone girls, and if it had been an option she could easily have studied at a good university. So it was that Molly felt perfectly competent to handle any of the teaching necessary at the Chalet School. Moreover, it provided a solution to the increasing problem of what she was going to do with her life. Teaching at a school in a foreign country was an answer to a prayer, and she had no intention of allowing her well-meant though occasionally overbearing brother to talk her out of it!

"What do you know about what I can and cannot do? You've got your life all nicely sorted out, but you've spent so much time away from home that you have no idea what my life is like! I am perfectly qualified to teach Mathematics to any girls I choose, and what is more, I have every intention of doing so, and nothing you can say or do will stop me, Jack Maynard!" With that, Molly stood up and swept from the Speisesaal, uncaring of the curious looks which followed her progress through the busy room.

*****
The following afternoon, when Madge walked into the foyer of the Kron Prinz Karl, she was met by a flushed looking Molly Maynard, and an irritated looking Jack Maynard. With an abrupt greeting, Jack stalked off towards the exit, and the two young women were left together. Molly led Madge towards a small table where a tray of Kaffee und Kuchen was waiting.

"I'm sorry about Jack," she said after a few moments of silence. "We had a bit of an argument last night, and things are still a bit heated. Do you want some coffee?" Madge assented, and Molly carefully poured from the delicate china coffee pot. "I suppose you're wondering why I wanted to talk to you," she continued, pouring a cup for herself.

"I was, rather," admitted Madge, selecting a little Apfeltorte that was a local delicacy. "I've been on tenterhooks since yesterday!"

"The thing is," started Molly, "that I've been thinking about what you said yesterday. About soon needing a mistress for Maths," she added hurriedly, as Madge was looking confused. "And I was thinking that, if you thought it a good idea, perhaps I could do it." Madge looked amazed at this. Whatever she had thought Molly had wanted to discuss, it had certainly not been this!

"Are you sure?" she asked hesitantly. "I mean, teaching's rather a full-time occupation, you know."

"This isn't just a whim, Madge," replied Molly, gazing at her friend reprovingly. "I need to do something, instead of languishing at home. And if you're wondering about whether I could teach, you needn't. My Maths is jolly good, if I do say it myself, and though I've never taught before, well, you never had before, if it comes to that!"

"And that's true enough!" thought Madge to herself. Aloud, she said, "Well, if you're sure you want to do it, of course we'd be happy to have you at the school." This acceptance was all Molly needed, and soon the both of them were engaged in an energetic conversation about schools, and teaching. The afternoon drew on, and Madge suddenly leaped up. "Good grief! It's nearly seventeen! I must dash, Molly, but come over to the school tomorrow after Mittagessen and we'll talk things over some more. Oh, by the way," she added as she drew on her gloves, "what did your brother say about all this?" Molly looked somewhat indignant.

"He's being rather beastly about the whole thing! That's why he was acting such a bear earlier on. He's my twin, and I love him, but really, he's acting the absolute outside of enough!" And with this schoolgirl assessment of her brother, Molly bid farewell to Madge.

Molly adjusted her hat nervously, gazing at her reflection in the mirror. In an hour's time, she would be at the Chalet School, teaching her first class. As she fiddled with her hat pin, a knock came at the door, and it swung open to reveal Jack.

"All set?" he asked, taking in her neat appearance. Molly nodded.

"Ready as I'll ever be." The two descended the stairs, and walked out onto the path outside the hotel. The morning was as beautiful as summer could be in the Tyrol, and sun shone done on the glistening waters of the lake, while the quiet hush that came with half past seven in the morning pervaded their surroundings. Molly and Jack set off for the jetty, where the little ferry would take Molly off on her latest scheme. After a while, Jack spoke.

"Are you sure about this, Molly? It'll be hard to back out once you've started, you know." Molly stayed silent, thinking. That weekend she had received a trunk call from her father, who had not been pleased with the news from his younger son. She had spent a good twenty minutes trying to placate the General, before giving it up as a bad loss. He would come around eventually, under her mother's persuasion, but Molly had never supposed that he would take the news lightly! Any woes she might have felt after rowing with her father had been softened that morning, when they went down to breakfast and Herr Braun presented her with a telegram from Bob, their elder brother: simply, "Good Luck!" At least one member of her family was on her side, she had thought with a grin.

"I don't know if I'll be any good," she answered eventually. "I just know that if I don't try this, I'll always regret it. Don't be angry, Jack. I know you don't want me to do it, but do give me credit for some sense! At any rate, I'll try not to make a fool of myself, and at the very least it will give Madge enough time to find someone else. Anyway, here we are," and she stopped at the top of the wooden steps leading down to the jetty. "Wish me luck!"

Jack kissed his sister, then grinned. "Good luck, Molly! You'll have those kids under your thumb in no time!"

The trip across the lake took fifteen minutes, and after waving vigorously to Jack, Molly sat down carefully and gazed across to her new home. Madge had suggested that Molly might like to stay at the Kron Prinz Karl for a while until she got used to the school, but Molly had scorned this suggestion; one of the Pfeiffen boys would bring her luggage from the hotel later in the day. Her mind went to the lesson plans carefully tucked in her bag, plans she had spent most of the weekend coming up with. According to Madge, the girls were, at present, being taught in three groups: Senior, Middle and Junior, so there was a big range within each class. While this might not be so important in subjects such as Literature and History, Molly was aware from her own experiences of having been taught briefly with the daughters of one of the Maynards' neighbours that Mathematics was best taught when you had a group of pupils of similar abilities.

"It'll certainly be a challenge," she mused. "I won't be bored, of that I am sure!"

Before she knew it, the boat arrived, and she was walking briskly up to the path to the Chalet, where she could see the figure of Joey Bettany waving wildly. Moments later, the girl came tearing down the path to greet her new teacher.

"Hallo, Miss Maynard!" she gasped, breathless after her exertions. "Ma-Madame says, can you please go to her study, and she'll join you in a minute. I'm to take you." The two carried on up the path as Joey explained Madge's absence. "There's been a bit of a row," she confided, "'cos Juliet cheeked one of the prees and then Grizel took her side and Simone started crying." Eyebrows rising, Molly forbore to say anything, and Joey fell silent as they approached Madge's sanctum. Joey opened the door, then stepped back. "I'd better go now. I've got a rotten hole in one of my stockings, and Mlle's bound to say something." With this gloomy prediction she raced off.

Ten minutes later, an irate looking Madge Bettany entered the room and threw herself down in one of the comfortable chairs.

"Oh, how I rue the day I agreed to take that child!" she exclaimed. "She won't pay attention to the older girls, and, what's worse, she's causing trouble with the other girls." Catching sight of the other woman's troubled expression, she managed a smile. "Don't look so worried, Molly! By all accounts, Maths is Juliet's only interest. She may behave for you where she hasn't with us. Anyway, the Senior girls don't have you until this afternoon - you start with the Middles."

At about quarter past eight the day pupils arrived, Madge pointing them out for her newest staff member. "The tall girl is Gisela Marani, our Head Girl. With her are Bernhilda Mensch and Bette Rincini, then Gertrud Steinbeck. The younger girl is Frieda Mensch, who is terribly shy but very good, while the smallest one is Gisela's younger sister, Maria. It's rather hard lines for her, I'm afraid - she's only nine, and her English isn't awfully good. But she and young Amy Stevens seem to have hit it off, so I suppose they're all right.

"I'd forgotten you had Charles Stevens' girls here. Amy and - Margia, isn't it?" Madge looked at the other woman in surprise.

"Yes, that's right. Do you know them?"

"The girls? No, not at all. Bob - my eldest brother, Robert - knows the Stevens a little."

"Oh, I see." Madge checked her watch, and leapt to her feet. "Come on, we'd better hurry. We'll have to see about prayers once all the girls are here. You're Church of England, I suppose." Molly shook her head.

"Catholic." She grinned at Madge's expression. "I know, I know, we seem very much the C of E type, but we're Catholic all right. Always have been - even when it wasn't something one generally admitted to. But I daresay most of the Continental girls are, anyway." Madge opened the door to her study, and gestured Molly through.

"Of course. Well, we have one Lutheran, but her people are happy for her to attend the Protestant services with us."

"Good thing too. It could get awfully complicated!" The two ladies laughed, but composed themselves shortly as they approached the wooden door which led to the form room Mlle Le Pattre used for the Catholic girls.

"Here you are. Elise will deal with everything, so you needn't worry. Afterwards the girls come through to the hall, and we have roll call, and notices and so forth. And with a brief pat on her new colleague's arm, Madge whisked herself away to take the Protestant girls' prayers, leaving Molly to join Mlle Le Pattre.

At the end of the full assembly, during which Molly managed to remain calm as Madge introduced her to the school en masse and Joey, in a fit of misplaced enthusiasm, cheered a little too loudly, earning her a glare from her sister, and a muffled kick in the back from Bette Rincini. Before long Madge had escorted her to the big, airy room that served as classroom for the 'Middles', and Molly was ensconced in her new career.

It was harder than she had expected, for it is one thing to understand something, and quite another to make someone else understand, especially if, like Joey Bettany, they were decidedly resistant to the idea of understanding. Joey, for whom the whole notion of Mathematics was an anathema, had been entertaining a vague hope that, in some unspecified way, Miss Maynard would be a soft touch, was daunted to learn that she was every bit as strict as Joey's own sister, and certainly stricter that poor Miss Ames, who had had the misfortune to teach Maths at the high school in Taverton.

The morning wore on, and Molly had just about succeeded in drumming a theorem into Simone Lecoutier's head - for though Simone was perfectly happy when doing her sums, shyness in the face of the new mistress had led to her being unaccountably stupid that morning - when the bell rang for the end of lessons, and the girls packed away their Maths books, some with more relief than others. Miss Maynard smiled at the girls, picked up her things, and vacated the room, leaving them free to air their views on the latest addition to their school.

"I think she is most pleasant," opined Sophie, busily sharpening a pencil.

"I, too, agree," said Frieda in her quiet voice. "She is most learned."

"Why is it," Joey asked in an aggrieved voice, "that the decentest people have to be Maths teachers? She's awfully jolly out of school, I know, but then she starts in with algebra and the like."

"You're just mad 'cos you can't do it," noted Margia, with some truth. "I thought she was pretty decent myself. Course, it's hard to tell. Sometimes teachers start out nice then turn out to be perfectly beastly."

"Margia! Such language, mon enfant!" Margia, her cheeks flaming, turned towards Mlle Le Pattre, who had arrived for their French lesson, and the question of Miss Maynard was temporarily forgotten.

Molly herself, meanwhile, spent the rest of morning with the Junior class, doing money sums, though she found herself acknowledging the truth of Madge Bettany's earlier statement as she tried to make little Maria Marani understand the lesson without reverting entirely to speaking German. However, it soon came time for Mittagessen, and she relaxed, enjoying the plain but filling meal. The girls sat at three long tables, with a mistress at the head of each, and the room was filled with merry chatter, checked now and then as it rose to rowdy levels.

Immediately after Mittagessen, it was time to rest, and Molly lounged in the staff sitting room, lazily looking over the papers she had prepared for the afternoon's class with the Senior girls. It must be owned that she felt not a little nervous. It was one thing to teach girls like Joey Bettany and Margia Stevens, who were still children, and quite another, to Molly's way of thinking, to teach creatures like Gisela Marani and Bernhilda Mensch, who were young ladies not so very much younger that Molly herself. As she stood outside the classroom door for a moment, Molly felt her lack of years keenly, and found herself longing for grey hairs and a dowager's cap!

It was in some ways less of a trial than she had expected - on that front at least. Gisela, Bernhilda and Gertrud were eager to learn, and as their Mathematics had previously been in the care of their governesses, whose lack of understanding of the subject seemed to have been exceeded only by their dislike, the elder girls were not so far ahead of Grizel, with her solid high school foundation. Molly launched into a lesson on quadratic equations, which would afford her the opportunity to see where each girl was. Grizel managed well enough on the easier sums, but came to blows with the more complex examples, as she had rushed through them and made mistakes. Gisela had been careful, but only managed to complete two sums before Molly called time. Bernhilda fared about the same, and Gertrud slightly worse, for she shared with Joey that young lady's abhorrence for the subject. Juliet Carrick, who had been silent but watchful throughout the lesson, her dark eyes fixed on the new mistress, had managed best of all, finishing all the questions, and correctly too. Molly smiled at her in congratulation, but Juliet simply stared back, and then asked in a bored voice,

"Are you sure you're old enough to teach us? You look like a kid." There was an immediate intake of breath at this exquisite piece of insolence, and Molly saw, out of the corner of her eye, the look of discomfort on Grizel Cochrane's face, and the expression of pure horror on Gisela's. This was a testing point, realised Molly, and she was determined to acquit herself as well as possible. She raised an eyebrow - a habit, had she but known, that she had subconsciously acquired from her autocratic father - and stared down at the younger girl, realising properly that Miss Juliet was just that, a fifteen year old school girl.

"My dear child, I hardly think my age is any concern of yours. And of course, if you have any worries about my qualifications to teach, I am sure that Miss Bettany would be delighted to explain her decision in employing me." Molly did not qualm to let the sarcasm through, and Juliet's pale cheeks were tinged with pink as she glared mutinously up at the mistress standing before her. Molly smiled faintly at her, and continued the lesson as if nothing untoward had happened.

The lesson came to an end eventually as the bell rang again, and the girls filed towards the door, for they were scheduled to take a nature walk with the rest of the school. As Juliet reached the classroom door, Molly called her back.

"Juliet!" The girl stopped reluctantly, and turned back.

"Yes?" she asked abruptly.

"I have a copy of Miss Aldridge's Guide to Etiquette in my case. There are several passages I think you would benefit from reading - and copying out. Please come and see me when you return from the walk."

Without replying, Juliet turned again and walked out of the room. Molly's lips pursed at this latest rudeness, but forbore to call the girl back. She gathered up the books she had been using, and hurried to the staff cloak room to change her shoes. The day was mild, so she simply pulled on the tweed jacket that matched her skirt, and snatched her hat off the stand, before racing towards the main entrance of the chalet where the girls were gathered, talking away nineteen to the dozen. She slowed to a more respectable pace as she came into view, and within ten minutes the party was on its way.

The sun shone down hotly, but a light breeze was playing on their faces as the climbed up the hill to the meadow where Miss Bettany intended to show them the native wild flowers. They scattered, some of the girls sketching pictures, while, Joey, who was not of an artistic bent, made generous use of an ancient camera she had unearthed in a shop in Innsbruck the previous month. Simone Lecoutier and Amy Stevens were picking flowers to press. Even Juliet seemed to have abandoned the black dog that lived on her shoulder, and was laughing about something with Bette Rincini and Grizel Cochrane.

Molly Maynard sat on the long grass, and watched the scene with a pleased smile. Every so often, one of the girls would dash up and ask for a particular flower to be identified, and she did her best to oblige, though Botany was not an interest of hers. The afternoon wore on, and Molly's feeling of contentment deepened. Whatever problems she might come across - and she had an immediate one to face when they returned to the school, in the shape of Juliet Carrick - she was sure that she had made the right decision. It was the Chalet School for her.

THE END